12/13/11: SEARS AND CME STAYING IN CHICAGO; TAX BREAKS APPROVED BY THE SENATE

13Dec

The Illinois Senate approved tax relief bills for Sears and CME Group, who runs The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade. Sears will receive a tax break that will save them $150 million over the next 10 years. They also will receive a break on local taxes for its headquarter’s in Hoffman Estates. CME will receive a break by being taxed on 27.54% of their electronic revenue, saving them $85 million a year.

While some believe big corporations should not receive additional tax breaks, it actually is good news for Illinois. If these two huge companies were to leave the State of Illinois, thousands of jobs would go with them. It is not a good time for Illinois to lose more jobs in this volatile market, so this is one time I’m happy for a big company to get a break.

The outcome being jobs saved…outweighs that debate. Let’s just hope they were smart enough to add language which requires them to avoid layoffs. Remember the bank bailouts?